Blaise Compaoré

The leader of a short-lived coup in Burkina Faso, General Gilbert Diendere, was handed over to authorities on Oct.1 after seeking refuge in the Vatican embassy, sources in the transitional government said on Oct.1. 

The president of Burkina Faso was back in charge on Sept.23 and said he would resume overseeing a transition to democracy, ending a coup by presidential guard soldiers who took him hostage last week. 

Coup leaders in Burkina Faso announced on Sept.18 they had released the country's interim president Michel Kafando whom they had detained along with the premier and two ministers.

Ankara has voiced ?concern? over a military coup in Burkina Faso, saying it ?rejected interventions in politics? through methods that are not democratic.

Burkina Faso?s military said on Sept.16 it had stripped interim President Michel Kafando of his functions and dissolved the government, seizing power in a coup less than a month before elections meant to restore democracy in the West African country. 

Hundreds of people placed brooms on the grave of the former Burkina Faso leader Thomas Sankara on Dec. 21 in a symbolic gesture to demand justice for the revolutionary hero killed in a 1987 coup.

Sankara - seen as an African "Che Guevara", who would have been 65 on Dec. 21 - was assassinated during the coup which brought his former friend Blaise Compaore to power.

Authorities in Burkina Faso named former foreign minister Michel Kafando as transitional president on Nov. 17 in a key step towards returning the West African country to democracy in the wake of a brief military takeover.
   

Burkina Faso prepared for another day of mass protest Nov. 2 as opposition and civil society leaders challenged moves by the military to step into the power vacuum left by the ouster of president Blaise Compaore.
      

Burkina Faso's embattled President Blaise Compaore announced on Friday that he was stepping down to make way for elections following a violent uprising against his 27-year rule that saw parliament set ablaze.
      

Burkina Faso's President Blaise Compaore has rejected calls to step down but called off a state of emergency imposed after a violent uprising against his 27-year rule saw parliament set ablaze.